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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28141674">Events in the History of the Yiga Clan</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AskaniSystem/pseuds/AskaniSystem'>AskaniSystem</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Video Game), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Sooga will be here later</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:48:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,879</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28141674</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AskaniSystem/pseuds/AskaniSystem</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"The current master of the Yiga Clan has inherited the name Kohga.  It is said that only the leader of the Yiga Clan "can master a secret technique that gives him the same power as ancient energy sources, and we can infer that it comes from ancient technology passed down in secret." - Breath of the Wild Art Book: Creating a Champion</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Events in the History of the Yiga Clan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This fic exists entirely as an excuse to display some weirdly specific headcanons which I don't think are explicitly refuted by anything but are also very obviously not what Nintendo intended.  Just go with me on this.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>"Master, we've found something."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Kohga looks up from his reading; his interruption is a low-ranking Yiga soldier, his uniform caked in the red-brown dust of the cliffs.  He's been digging, either out in the open canyon or deep within one of the pits around their hideout.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Something valuable, I can only hope" Kohga mutters, scowling beneath his mask.  The ancient Sheikah must have using their canyon as a landfill for all the useless debris that's been hauled out of the pit.  An occasional piece of technology is enough that Kohga isn't willing to abandon the project altogether, but his clan has far more pressing business than sifting through dirt.  "I've been more than clear on what sort of artifact justifies--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It isn't an artifact," the soldier begins to clarify.  He falls silent as Kohga stands, one hand resting on the hilt of his sickle.  Even masked, Kohga is pleased to see his glare has the desired effect.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I will <em>not</em> be spoken over," Kohga growls, his fingers closing over the blade's grip.  "Whatever our scientists have found is not an excuse to abandon proper respect.  You will speak when I am finished."  He watches the soldier for a moment to reinforce his point, tension filling the air, before letting go and crossing his arms.  "Now.  Tell me what you found."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, uh, I'm just passing word along.  Natto, he's leading the excavation in-- you know that, of course you know that," he laughs nervously.  Kohga exhales through his teeth.  "Uh, anyway, master, they broke into an underground chamber.  There's a lot of raw materials and a few of those flameless torches, but they also found, well, it isn't really something you've advised on one way or another.  Master."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You realize you still haven't answered the question?" Kohga sighs, wondering how such a nervous man passed the clan's basic training.  "What's down that accursed pit I 'haven't advised upon,' one way or another?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It-- it's a body, sir.  Natto thinks we must have dug our way into a tomb, maybe belonging to one of the Ancients.  The body is behind some kind of barrier, so it hasn't been examined yet, but we thought you should know as soon as possible."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"A tomb?" Kohga repeats, considering the possibilities.  "Well, if that pit wasn't already cursed, it certainly is now," he chuckles.  He glances down at the book of records he had been going through, determining this may be worth seeing in person.  Kogha takes a moment to fold down the corner of his page before closing it, partially just to irritate their archivist upon its return.  "Very well, inform Natto I will attend shortly."</p>
</div><p> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>***</p>
</div><p> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>Kohga doesn't like the pit even in ordinary circumstances.  He doesn't consider himself claustrophobic, certainly, but as the air cools and sunlight dims beneath the surface of the canyon he finds something oppressive in the atmosphere. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>He doesn't entirely trust the soldiers' attempt at a system of ladders, either, and suspects the entire operation would come crashing down without continuous maintenance.  Descending step by step, Kohga does his best to focus on other matters.  The body of an ancient Sheikah, assuming a correct identification, may have been buried alongside valuables or lost technology of some kind.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Natto is waiting at the base of the shaft; the blademaster-turned-excavator bows deeply at Kohga's approach.  There's excited energy in his posture, barely constrained by the proper formalities.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I've been informed you uncovered a tomb," says Kohga.  "Has it been checked for traps?" he asks, at the same time crouching to peer through a gap in the red stone.  A faint blue light is emanating from the hole in stark contrast with the earth around it, the chamber within lit by the machinery of the Ancients.  The hole is already large enough for a Hylian or Sheikah to slip through, if not a member of one of the larger tribes.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>From what Kohga can see the chamber below is quite small, a little cube of the ancients' frictionless panels.  At its center is a mummified body with long white hair, face covered, hands and feet bound, surrounded within the little room by a prism of translucent, faintly glowing panes. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The corpse is remarkably well preserved, considering.  Kohga can only assume it dates back to the same period as the rest of the pit; the era of the divine beasts, now stolen from the ancestors of his clan by those Hylians who once cast them aside.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The bones remain articulated, skin untorn, undisturbed for however many centuries since--</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No sign of any traps, master," Natto answers, and Kohga jumps slightly at the break in his thoughts.  His scowl deepens.  Something about this is unnerving, even beyond the act of graverobbing, and Kohga feels vaguely like he is being watched.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Of course, the leader of the Yiga clan has no intention of showing that sort of hesitence.  Steeling his resolve, Kohga nods to the blademaster before dropping down into the grave.  There is no jolt, no sudden burst of energy or poison gas as he lands soundlessly on tile, thankfully not so frictionless as the construction of the walls. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Up close, the translucent panels are clearly a barrier ward, one not so heavily changed from the modern day.    Kohga steps up onto the platform to examine them more closely, hands raised but not quite making contact.  He closes his eyes, readying his own magic before pressing forward with both palms out, a faint numbness passing through his fingers as a spell is cast.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The panel hums with energy for a moment before dismissing itself, the panes shattering harmlessly into bars of light which dissipate into the air. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Barrier gone, Kohga turns to the corpse itself.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The figure is magically enlarged, likely under a similar effect to the Yiga clan's own Ritual of Strength.  The binding of the dead isn't something Kohga has seen before in the funeral rites of the Sheikah, although covering the face of the dead with an embroidered sigil was common practice from what he recalls of his own childhood among them, years before finding his rightful place among the Yiga. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The mark of the Sheikah, the eye with a single tear, is only faintly visible on this body's veil.  The whole of it is stained dark with... was that blood, or ink?  Kogha snorts.  Why would the Ancients desecrate the body of one of their own, or lay wards and bindings over a corpse yet no traps to deter the thieves of the ancient past?</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Impulsively Kohga reaches for this veil, intrigued to see the face of a man who lay dead beneath their hideout for so long, and above him hears a sudden noise like rushing wind.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Kohga flickers backwards and draws his sickle in a single movement, putting distance between himself and the body.  Between them luminous words in Sheikah script write themselves into the air, spellcasting far more precise than the flat panels from before</p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em> <strong>Who are you?</strong> </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Kohga doesn't know how to answer, nor who is asking.   A spirit of some kind, or an autonomous trap that escaped Natto's notice?  Something is very wrong with this tomb.  He looks back at the hole in the wall above, where he can only assume the scientist is watching.  "I am Master Kohga, the leader of the Yiga clan," he declares, not allowing any tinge of uncertainty into his voice.  "Who am I addressing?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <strong> <em>I don't know.</em> </strong>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Beneath his mask, Kohga narrows his eyes.  He begins to speak again, to demand some sort of answers from this printing-press of the ancients, but before he can make a sound the body <em>moves</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The body moves, its head shifts to face him, still veiled, and his feeling of being watched heightens tenfold.  He hears the scrape of bone against bone, the pop of straining joints as the corpse struggles to their knees, hands still bound.  They stare despite the veil, faceless and looming, while their words continue to hover between them.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Kohga hesitantly returns the sickle to its holster, feeling outmatched.  "This isn't a grave," he mutters, mostly to himself.  "You... you're one of the ancients.  You're here."  You're alive, he almost says, but can't imagine that's true.  He knows they aren't the sort of ghost he's seen in the past, certainly no common Wizzrobe.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Even the ghost of an ancient Sheikah will be an incredible boon for the clan, Kogha reasons.  Presuming it can be controlled.  He'll need to tread carefully.  "This room is a prison, isn't it?" the Yiga suggests. "Perhaps my people can help you.  Are you bound here?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The words hanging in the air turn to glowing smoke, vanishing for a moment before they reform.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <strong> <em>I already told you I don't know anything, buddy.</em> </strong>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Kogha raises an eyebrow under his mask.  Buddy?  He suspects something was lost in translation.  Even if not, he can't realistically accuse one of the Ancients of insubordination.  "Very well," he replies slowly, regilating his breathing to avoid showing any sign of offense.  "If I release you from your bonds, Ancient One, are you willing to share your knowledge of the technology of your era?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <strong> <em>I'm starting to feel like you aren't actually reading this, mask boy, but sure, go ahead and untie me.</em> </strong>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>There must have been significant linguistic drift since the time of the ancients, Kohga reasons.  The proper terminology of one time could easily come across as disrespectful in another, or vice versa.  It was the only possible explanation.  The leader of the Yiga clan finds himself clenching his jaw.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He approaches the body once again, cautiously, without saying anything further.  Kohga has no doubt he could overpower the emaciated figure in a physical confrontation, even accounting for their enhanced size, but he can't account for the Ancient's potential spellcasting.  The bindings themselves are magically enhanced but not overly complex, and Kohga releases them with little trouble.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>He half-expects the Ancient will turn on him as soon as their hands are freed, his own hand darting to his sickle at the first sign of movement, but the body only stretches their limbs and scratches at their scalp. Kogha can feel them watching him from beneath the desecrated veil.  They rest an oversized hand on his shoulder; the long, bony fingers reminds him of a skulltula, and his skin crawls beneath thin leather.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Is... Is there anything else we can offer you, ancient one?" Kohga asks, looking back over his shoulder at the now-mirrored text still hovering in space.  It fades, and does not reappear.  Instead, the body makes a sound like a death rattle; Kogha stiffens. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"--," it mutters, unintelligible.  Its voice is harsh, strained with disuse, and echoes unnaturally in the small chamber.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I didn't understand any of that," Kohga admits, feeling somewhat disrespectful himself at having trouble.  "Do you speak modern Sheikah, if not Hylian?  If it would be easier to write things down, I could--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I <em>said</em>," the Ancient rasps, now over-enunciating, the echoing effect suddenly absent.  The novelty of it is almost but not quite enough to settle the Kohga's aggravation at being spoken over once again in the space of an hour.  His jaw is starting to ache.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I said," it repeats, apparently oblivious to the clan master's fraying nerves, "Do you have any bananas?"</p>
</div>
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